The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is working with local health departments to ensure that ocean and bay recreational bathing beaches are all open and safe in the 2013 summer beach season. A letter outlining pre-operational assessment procedures has been shared with municipalities to assist them in beach bathing season preparation. Pre-season water quality monitoring at beaches and other coastal waters has indicated that water quality is within the standard at all sampled locations. It is anticipated that water quality will continue to be excellent throughout the summer. All coastal sewage treatment plants are operating within permitted limits and there are no untreated sewage discharges to bathing beaches.

NJDEP's Clean Shores Program and three state contractors continue to remove debris from beaches, tidal waterways and navigable waters. Shore municipalities are also working to make sure that all accessible beaches are open. NJDEP is conducting coastal surveillance flights to look for any floating or submerged debris that may affect beaches and coastal water quality.

While NJDEP, the State of NJ and local municipalities are working hard to make certain that all beaches will be safe this summer, the dynamic nature of the ocean and bays may uncover debris items that were not identified earlier. We caution all beachgoers to be aware of their surroundings and any potential hazards and to report them to the DEP Hotline at 888-WARN DEP.

Regarding contaminated streams, all tributaries to the Newark Bay (Arthur Kill, Kill van Kull, etc) are considered contaminated and are being investigated as part of the Newark Bay Study Area of the Diamond Alkali Site, and all tributaries to the lower 17-miles of the Passaic River from the confluence with Newark Bay up to the Dundee Dam in Garfield are being investigated and have lower levels of contamination. The latter include Second River, Third River, Saddle River.

Passaic River Cleanup Activities
Check the Project news section for information regarding the removal action in Lyndhurst as well as documents and news related specifically to the work that will be going on in May-June 2013

All of NOAAs data, and many non-NOAA data, that will be of assistance can be viewed from NOAAs Environmental Resource Management Application (ERMA)which contains data primarily used for managing oil spill response for Sandy, however there are many data sets in this map that will be of assistance including post-storm over flight imagery, planned LIDAR coverage from USACE, and bathymetry (water depth and shape).

Water Depths
This information is the best available information as to current water depths and high and low tide in the particular zones. It is noted that due to Hurricane Sandy and possible redistribution of the bay bottom as a result of the storm, shallower water depths may be encountered during debris removal.